


Twiceborn: The Fate of an Uchiha | Sakura

by thatdamnuchiha



Series: Twiceborn [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: (those two tags will make sense eventually), Akatsuki - Freeform, Akatsuki Haruno Sakura, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Deidara is mildly terrified, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Good Akatsuki (Naruto), Graphic Violence, Haruno Sakura-centric, Insanity, Kisame and Sakura are bros, Mangekyou Sharingan, Minor Character Death, No Uchiha Massacre, Rebirth, Reincarnation, Sakura ends up in the Twiceborn Universe, Sakura is reborn as an Uchiha, Sakura is the baby of the family, Sasori loves this adorable baby murder child, Sharingan, Somewhat, Strong Haruno Sakura, The Founders went Zetsu hunting, This is seriously AU, Twiceborn, Uchiha Fugaku Being a Good Father, Uchiha Massacre, Yahiko lives, and wound up cursed, canon? what's that?, this gets dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2019-11-24 00:06:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18158837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatdamnuchiha/pseuds/thatdamnuchiha
Summary: Sakura didn’t quite know what to expect after she died – peace and quiet, or a reunion of friends perhaps? She most certainly didn’t bank on the idea of being reborn. Especially not as her old teammate’s younger sister.Born into a completely different dimension, everything should’ve been different… but it wasn’t. There was an event that seemed to always be slated to happen, just as it did in her previous life.The Uchiha Massacre.Danzo was still scheming, Sarutobi was still letting it slide, Itachi was still a pacifist at heart, and Sakura was somehow stuck in the middle.They all never counted on one thing.An Uchiha’s love is absolute, and Sakura absolutely loves her eldest brother. He’s perfect – everything she ever wanted in a sibling – and he deserves a better future than the one Sakura knows is slated for him.So she’ll do anything.Even if it means coating her hands in blood.Even if it means driving herself to the brink of insanity and back.Anything for Aniki.





	1. Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's another Sakura-centric book, and I made her an Uchiha again. Oops.
> 
> Anyway, this book is way darker compared to my other ones, so be prepared. I might've accidentally driven Sakura a bit insane.
> 
> The first chapter is actually a prologue, and it's shorter than what I'm hoping for other chapters to come.
> 
> Anyway, this book was written in the 'Twiceborn-verse' which means there are a few things different to canon - hence the 'This is seriously AU' tag. This book and the others set in this verse, were all sort of inspired by a phrase/song titled 'See What I've Become', in reference to Konoha and the Founders - the idea that they're stuck there through one means or another to slowly see what their village will become, and how much their presence would affect the world.
> 
> I hope this clears up any confusion that has/may come in regards to the timeline.

_Drip._

 

_Drip._

 

_Drip._

 

The sound made her sigh, her eyes falling on the bloodied sword in her hands. Red was dripping from it, the cloying scent of blood encompassing her as she stood there amidst the corpses she’d made. The Uchiha District was littered with them, each one sporting a nice gash somewhere on their chest.

 

Sakura hummed quietly under her breath, skipping over to nearest corpse, turning over the quickly cooling body with her foot. She wouldn’t dirty her hands with the likes of _him_. “I suppose you’re the closest blood relative to me with them…” she mumbled, pulling out a little jar of greenish liquid, anticipation rising as she crouched down next to the corpse. “Thanks for the eyes.” She giggled, fingers digging into the fleshy skin around the man’s eyes, laughter ringing out as it popped out of its socket. _He didn’t deserve them._ “That’s one…” she purred, plopping the severed eye into the jar she’d brought – the jar she’d prepared specifically for that purpose. _As soon as she’d overheard that he had the eyes… as soon as she’d heard what he was planning…_ “And two…” she said with a note of finality, sticking her fingers back into his head, wrenching her last prize loose, quickly storing it all away out of sight. Her bloodied fingers returned to the man’s face, hysterical laughter bubbling at her lips. _He was gone. Finally gone._ “You should be honoured,” she murmured, caressing his face gently, uncaring as she left trails of congealing blood in her wake. _He wouldn’t be able to hurt either of her brothers again. She’d made sure of that… she’d protected them from the snakes in their nest, just like Aniki would’ve done. He’d be so proud of her… well, he would if he’d known everything she did… known what fate she’d saved him from._ “I’ll put them to good use, I promise.”

 

“Imouto?” the small voice made her pause. His chakra hadn’t registered on her senses, but then again, she’d only really been searching for the one’s large enough that they could’ve stopped her. _Would’ve tried to stop her… But they didn’t know… didn’t understand. She did it all for them. Everything was for them… because she loved them._ “Saku… what’s going on?”

 

She turned, a grin with too many teeth appearing on her blood-stained face. “Don’t worry, Sasuke-nii…” Her eyes narrowed, bloodlust curdling the air around her. _They’d never lay a hand on him. She’d made sure of that._ “They got exactly what was coming to them.”

 

“What?” his voice was a squeak, feet backpeddling till he tripped over one of the numerous corpses. “Saku, what’s going on? Who killed them all…? We need to go… need to leave… before they come back…”

 

“They can’t hurt us anymore, Sasuke-nii…” Sakura purred, looking earnestly up at her big brother. _Maybe he’d understand… it was so obvious…_ “I did it. I got rid of them, so we don’t have to go anywhere… they couldn’t be allowed to live…”

 

The scent of urine hit her nose, swiftly followed by the stench of vomit as Sasuke hurled his guts up as the moonlight, previously hidden by the clouds, shed light on the entirety of the situation. Bodies pinned to the wall with kunai, blood trailing from sliced open chests, viscera and brain matter forming little puddles here and there.

 

“Sasuke?”

 

“ _Monster._ ”

 

Sakura recoiled at the sheer venom with which the word was spat out.

 

“How could you?”

 

Sakura blinked. _Oh, that was right…_ Sasuke was stupid. He didn’t understand her. Couldn’t understand her. After all, he was the one who _murdered_ precious Aniki the last time. “Silly Sasuke… seems you’re too young to understand…” She giggled, ducking under the kunai that was thrown at her by her older brother. _He needed to learn._ “That’s not nice.” Her sharingan spun. _But she wouldn’t hurt her precious older brother. He was family, unlike the scum on the ground._ “So I think it’s nap time for you, Sasuke-nii…” she whispered, sending him to sleep with a simple genjutsu. _It was better that way… even if he hated her._ “You’re just proof of how all of them would react… _That’s right…_ They’ll hate me. They don’t understand me… not even Aniki does, but that’s OK. I still love him,” she mumbled, turning her back on the carnage as she hoped over the wall of the Uchiha district. _She needed to leave._ “Aniki can’t see me like this… Aniki always has to love me…” She sprinted towards the gates, supplies already packed. She’d known all along she’d have to leave. _Known deep down that they wouldn’t understand._ With a few well-executed shunshins she was outside, breathing in the crisp cool night air, heading straight for the river as she made her way out of Konoha lands.

 

Nobody would find her.

 

Nobody could… except perhaps Aniki, but Sakura didn’t mind that.

 

Everything had been done for him.

 

Anything for Aniki.


	2. Sakura

_Haruno Sakura died, and elsewhere, in another universe, Uchiha Sakura took her first breath._

 

The world was blurry… but that couldn’t be right, or so Sakura thought. She was supposed to be in the Pure Lands, meeting Naruto and Sasuke for that drink they’d said they’d share. She wasn’t supposed to be staring at a blurry room, wherever the hell she was. _It wasn’t right. Something was wrong_. Sakura had good eyesight, last time she checked, and she blinked furiously as if to clear whatever was blocking her view but it did no good. The world remained blurry, and Sakura remained confused.

 

“What will we name her?” a masculine voice asked, and dimly Sakura was aware of being held. _Helpless. Always relying on others. Weak_. The arms holding her were warm, though her skin felt far more sensitive than normal, and it did nothing to quell the multitude of voices whispering in her ears. Voices that belonged to dead things. Dead people. Everything felt too tight – like she was confined to a body much smaller than she ought to be, and with that, Sakura had a horrifying sense of realisation.

 

“Sakura. Let’s call her Sakura.” A female voice that time. One she vaguely recognised from years long past, though she’d heard it only a few times… That voice, though, combined with the words they were saying… _They were naming something. Naming her._ She shook her head, screaming, her immature wails practically confirming exactly what she’d been thinking. She was in the body of a baby. One who’d just aptly been named Sakura.

 

Someone cooed above her, rocking her gently as she screamed her heart out.

 

_No._

 

_No._

 

_NO._

 

_She couldn’t do it again. She wouldn’t. It wasn’t possible. The name Sakura carried a far too heavy burden. She couldn’t bear it again. No. No. No._

 

Maybe she hadn’t murdered an innocent baby and taken its place in the world, but that didn’t change the fact _SHe DIdn’T BeLONg THeRe_.

 

_Thief._

 

What were the odds she’d end up with the exact same name?

 

_Murderer._

 

Sakura sighed softly, her cries dying away as her face was pressed up against something, her new-born body reacting instinctively as she latched onto whatever it was. _She was tired. Alone. Again._ She buried herself in her thoughts, willing herself not to think about what she was doing. _Embarrassing herself, like always_. There was a reason infants weren’t supposed to remember the trauma of birth and breastfeeding.

 

It was humiliating.

 

_She probably deserved it._

 

She was a failure.

 

_She couldn’t save them._

 

All she could do—

 

_—was cry._

 

“Shh, Sakura… Kaa-san’s here…”

 

_She was supposed to be strong._

 

Sakura hiccupped.

 

_But Kaguya…_

 

She sniffled, chubby fingers curling around the soft fabric she was swathed in.

 

_She was useless against her. So useless. She couldn’t reach them in time. Couldn’t save them. Couldn’t even make her last punch count._

 

Pathetic.

 

Sakura curled in on herself, silently wishing she could disappear – fade into nothingness just like Naruto and Sasuke probably had, after they’d been turned to ashes.

 

_Why couldn’t she just have died like everyone else no doubt had?_

 

_ShE DIdN’t bELOnG THeRE._

 

She wished she could scrub those memories away, like how she’d scrubbed her hands clean after each failed surgery.

 

_Why did the universe hate her?_

 

They’d haunt her forever.

 

_Blank eyes, staring up sightlessly at her, the glassy look making her shudder. Corpses littering the battlefield. The stench of rot and ash as the bodies were hauled away and burnt._

 

Sakura sobbed herself to exhaustion, barely registering as she was carried out into the cool air, nodding off to sleep in her new father’s arms, dreams full of death and misery.


	3. Uchiha

Everything was hazy, the world distorted as she lay in her crib, absentmindedly gumming on the plush kitty her parents had bought for her. They’d learnt fairly quickly she wouldn’t tolerate anything involving rabbits. She’d ripped any rabbit toys limb from limb, silently imagining doing the same to the so-called Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya. _She’d rip that bitch limb from limb if she ever saw her again. She’d be stronger… better, compared to before._ Sakura stared around her room, pulling at the dark blue mattress she was lying on, eyeing the wooden bars keeping her from the rest of her room. There were plenty of toys and other activities neatly packed away in boxes, aside from a thin mat she presumed she’d be playing on in the near future. _Not that she wanted to do much playing. She’d rather train her body and learn how to throw all things metallic and deadly… but sadly her new – pathetic – body wasn’t quite up to that task just yet._ She’d settled on trying to pull herself up to stand by her bars, but so far, it’d been pointless. She couldn’t get a proper grip with her _too small_ hands, let alone find the strength or support to pull herself to her feet.

 

A creak at the door interrupted her internal musings, her eyes fixing on the figure of her new mother walking into the room, two smaller bodies following close behind her. Her gaze narrowed, random baby noises escaping her mouth as she was picked up. “Now, Sasuke… I know you’ve been looking forward to meeting your new sister, but make sure you hold her correctly, OK?”

 

“M’kay.”

 

Sakura’s heart skipped a beat, her noises ceasing as she was passed into the toddler’s arms as he sat on the ground. There, staring down at her, was Sasuke. It was a toddler Sasuke, but it was still _Sasuke_. She blinked, tiny hands clawing at his shirt, her eyes staring up into his big black ones. _He was there. He was safe._ Sakura giggled.

 

“Kura,” Sasuke spoke, nuzzling his cheek against hers. “Pretty.”

 

The other child knelt by them, black hair tied back in a short ponytail, a small smile on his face as he watched the two of them. Sakura stared between them in wonder, silently praying she wasn’t dreaming. _Fate wouldn’t have been as kind to her as to make her the younger sibling of her old teammate, would it? Fate never smiled on Team Seven._ Her tiny fingers reached for his face, laughter bubbling from her as she prodded and poked at him as best she could with her unwieldy fists. He was real. Undoubtedly so. She could feel him chakra, bubbly and warm, though it wasn’t the exact same as before. His had been cold and dark, but despite that the core of his essence still felt the same. He was Sasuke… _but he wasn’t her Sasuke… and he never would be…_

 

A sudden jostling of limbs made her startle, her eyes flickering up to the other boy in the room as she was passed over to him. Sakura pouted, glancing back over at Sasuke as best she could, letting out a wail as she waved her stubby little arms back at him. _She wanted to go back to him… even if he didn’t know how to hold a baby for the life of him…_

 

“Shh… imouto.”

 

Sakura blinked, tucked against his chest, basking in the heat radiating from his skin. She sighed in contentment, hands fisting into his shirt as his own patted her back. _She liked this one too,_ she decided. He was far better at dealing with children than her idiotic old teammate, no matter how much she loved him… besides… they were all clearly siblings now. _Family._ She laughed, staring up at her new brother. One she hadn’t met in her last life… _because Sasuke had been a revenge-obsessed moron._

 

Uchiha Itachi.

 

An infamous, terrifying shinobi… and he was cooing at her, a small smile on his lips as he listened to her babble incomprehensible sounds at him. From the looks of him, he was no doubt already well on the way to becoming an incredible shinobi. The hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead, pride of place, told her that much. He looked to be about eight, meaning Sasuke was about three, and that matched up with what she knew from her last life. Of course, in her last life she’d been Haruno Sakura rather than Uchiha Sakura… In her last life, Sasuke hadn’t even had a younger sister… and that meant things were going to change, possibly drastically.

 

Fear clawed at her chest, her grip tightening on her new brother. _What if Kaguya came sooner? What if she was still just an itty bitty baby when their demise came around a second time? What if she couldn’t protect anyone, again?_

 

Her eyes flickered shut, exhaustion claiming her tiny new body before she could spiral deeper into the worries that consumed every waking hour. She barely felt herself being carried back to her crib, already well on her way to dreamland by the time her head hit the pillowed surface.


	4. Brothers

She was four months old when she fell in love.

 

The moonlight was soft, falling in through the small gap in the curtains, casting light through the bars of her crib. She woke, crying and wailing, the rest of the house silent aside from the small patter of footsteps heading towards her room. _Kaguya wasn’t there. She was safe. Just a nightmare…_ but still her immature body wailed, begging for someone to come and comfort her – save her from her worries. Dimly she heard someone stirring in her parents’ bedroom, murmurs of protest for someone to go back to bed, and then her door clicked open.

 

“’Tachi, you can’t use your sister as an excuse, dammit,” an unfamiliar voice rang out, and Sakura recognised his chakra as the one which’d been hanging around her eldest brother for most of the day. _Apparently they were having a sleepover of sorts._ “You can talk to me.”

 

“I know,” her brother said, walking into her room, a soft smile on his face when her cries dwindled away, her arms frantically reaching for him from where she lay.

 

Sakura gurgled happily, a smile on her face as her precious aniki tucked her into his chest and started to rock her back and forth. _He was there. He was real. Kaguya was gone, and she was safe. Safe in the arms of her aniki._

 

The door creaked open again, the tired face of Uchiha Fugaku, her new father, appearing in the gap. He rubbed his eyes. “Itachi…? Shisui…?” He glanced down at her, a soft smile pulling at his lips when Sakura turned to him. She babbled at him, words incomprehensible, her fingers pulling at the small shirt on her brother’s back. “I see you’ve got things handled…”

 

“Go back to bed, otou-san,” Itachi said, snuggling Sakura closer.

 

Shisui smiled. “We’ll come and get you if Sakura-chan needs something,” he said, peering at her closely, as if inspecting her.

 

The door closed with barely a sound, leaving her alone with her brother, and whom she guessed to be her cousin. Sasuke hadn’t told her much about Shisui, other than he’d used to think he was annoying – since he stole his precious nii-san away from him.

 

“She’s certainly cuter than Sasuke-chan was…” Shisui said, face peering down at her, smiling as her hands patted at his cheeks. “Quieter too…” He trailed off, catching sight of her brother’s unamused stare. “What? You can’t deny it.”

 

A soft smile broke on her brother’s face. _It was a beautiful sight. Sakura wished he’d smile at her more._ “You’ve stopped crying now…” Itachi murmured. “What did you want, imouto?”

 

Her hands fisted in his shirt even tighter in answer, incomprehensible sounds rolling from her tongue. She’d definitely need to work on that later, but she had a few months until she was due to start speaking.

 

“Awww,” Shisui cooed, face looming over her tiny body. “It’s like she wanted you… how adorable.”

 

“I love you too, imouto,” he whispered, ignorant of the warmth that bloomed in her chest.

 

 _‘I love you too, nii-san,’_ she wanted to whisper, but her immature tongue and vocal chords wouldn’t move as she wanted them to. Instead, she settled for a gummy smile, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. _She wouldn’t lose him. They were family now. She had to protect all of them. Protectprotectprotectprotect._ The word rang around her brain like a mantra. _They were her world now. She’d lost the first one. She couldn’t afford to lose a second. There’d be nothing left of her sanity to piece back together if that were the case._

 

Tears leaked down his face, her blood running cold as she stared up at him, reaching up to wipe that sad expression off his face. _Why was aniki crying? Who hurt him?_ Her eyes narrowed into slits, hands patting at his cheeks as he held her up closer.

 

“She’s trying to stop you from crying… my heart can’t take this…” Shisui mumbled, snatching her away from her brother. “You’re too cute, Saku-chan!”

 

“Shisui.”

 

“Speak to the baby, ‘tachi,” he said cradling her disgruntled self. “Think of it like puppy therapy, but with a baby instead, OK?”

 

Sakura felt her face turn flat, Shisui’s laughter vibrating through her body as he spied her displeased expression. _He’d just substituted her for a dog. She was allowed to be a bitch about it._

 

“Go on… it’s not like she’ll remember this or be able to understand it,” he urged, holding her back out for her brother to take.

 

“OK then,” Itachi said, staring intently down at her with a sombre face. _Sakura didn’t like that expression on him at all. Smiling suited him more._ “Today… I awakened my sharingan.” Black eyes spun into red, a single tomoe spinning in each eye. “Otou-san congratulated me.” Tears leaked down his face.

 

“Let it out, ‘tachi…”

 

“A boy who I considered a friend is dead…” he whispered, voice cracking. “All because I wasn’t strong enough to save him… and all everyone around me is saying is how great it is that I’ve awakened these cursed eyes.”

 

 _She couldn’t save them either._ Her fingers curled in his shirt. _Nobody was congratulating her though… that’d only make things worse._ She yawned, staring sleepily up at her brother as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

 

“I think she’s tired…” Shisui mumbled. “Best put her back to bed… we don’t want a repeat of the cranky Sasuke incident.”

 

“No.” Itachi’s smile was pained. “We don’t.”

 

They placed her back in her crib, leaving just as silently as they’d appeared, and then Sakura was all alone – left to mull over the events that’d just happened. _Her brother had cried. Someone had made him upset._ She blinked, flopping onto her back, staring up at the ceiling, eyes narrowing. _Uchiha Itachi… her older brother… the boy who would murder all his clan aside from Sasuke… and he’d just cried right in front of her. It wasn’t the face of a mass murderer. It was the face of her precious aniki. The same one that Konoha would mould into that of a killer._

 

_Konoha was going to destroy her brother._

 

Sakura sat up, sheer and utter loathing coursing through her at that thought. The village she’d once thought was nice – better – was going to rip her brother’s sanity to shreds… and for what? To keep an old warhawk’s thirst for power sated.

 

 _No._ She shook her head. _That wouldn’t happen. She’d tear Konoha to the ground if that happened. Itachi was her brother. Her lifeline. Her stability. The Uchiha were her family. Hers. She’d lost one. She wouldn’t lose another. Protectprotectprotectprotect._ The thoughts raced around her brain, and then the world bloomed red. Tiny black eyes became small red ones, a single tomoe swirling around the iris in each eye. Her back slammed into the cushioning of her crib, exhaustion flooding through her as the red glow of her eyes permeated the room.

 

_Nothing would touch her brothers. Especially aniki._

 

_She’d kill anyone who tried._


	5. Family

If there was one person in her family who she didn’t like, it’d have to be her newfound uncle. He was seemingly one of the many ripples of her new universe. The same ripples which had given birth to her – the youngest of the main Uchiha Family. She loved her nii-sans, and her new otou-san and okaa-san were slightly less lovable than her precious brothers, but she still loved them. They were attentive, and they loved taking her outside and showing her the compound. She hadn’t been allowed any further than that just yet – she was only around nine months old, and far too young to go to the many parks outside the Uchiha District. It wasn’t safe… not with the rising tensions between the clan and the village. Still, she was content with her new life so far. There was no Kaguya in sight, and she had far more family than last time. More importantly though, _she felt loved._ It helped that everyone was none the wiser about the way her eyes could already turn that scarlet red colour. To them, she was just an ordinary baby, and they showered her in affection. The Uchiha Clan wasn’t anything like what she’d heard about when she’d been a Haruno. They weren’t cold and distant. They were warm and close-knit, though Fugaku did seem to like encouraging a rivalry between the boys – but that was for them. She was his baby daughter, and she liked to think she had him wrapped around her tiny finger. All she had to do was flash a gummy smile in his direction, and he’d melt into a pile of goo. His chakra was warm, tinged with the distinctive fire-style nature usually found in the Uchiha Clan. Her mother’s chakra was much the same, if only slightly more mellow and tame. Sasuke’s was pretty much the same, the only thing missing being the dark edge to his chakra – the one which hinted at something lingering underneath. That was gone, and Sasuke seemed happier than ever. Her other brother’s chakra was her favourite. It was toasty and warm, the flame feeling somehow purer than the rest, less gritty than the rest of the various relatives she could sense inside the compound. Her uncle’s chakra was disgusting. Oily. She didn’t like it in the slightest, and she didn’t like his dismissive attitude of her in the slightest. _He only had eyes for tou-san and Itachi-nii. She didn’t like the looks he gave aniki. She wanted to rip out his eyes – protect Itachi from those disgusting greedy stares, but she was too young. She was still working on her strength._

 

She hadn’t been idle while stuck rolling around on her back and crawling on her front. She’d been working on her chakra – seeing as how her physical body was going to take an age to sort out. She could only wait until she was able to run around before she could start on building the muscles she needed to survive. _She hadn’t known she’d need them until far too late in her last life._

 

“You can bet kaa-chan is going to be her first word, just like Itachi-chan…” Mikoto said as the rest of the family ate. _She was having her lunch later. The family just liked to have her at the table. They liked listening to her babble._

 

“It’ll be tou-san, obviously… just like Sasuke-chan,” Fugaku shot back with a smirk at his youngest. “Clearly she’ll be saying tou-san first. She looks just like Sasuke…”

 

Sakura smiled at them, giggling at the little bet going on. _She was due to be saying her first words any day now… and everyone in the household had placed their bets on what her first word would be._

 

“Pink,” Sasuke spoke up, pointing at the large pink section of hair covering a fifth of her head, the rest matching the blackish blue of her mother and youngest brother.

 

“She’s definitely a bit pinker than Sasu-chan,” her mother said, smiling at her son. “That’s for sure.”

 

“What about you?” Fugaku looked towards his eldest. “What’s your bet on?”

 

Itachi blinked, a small smile curving at his lips. “I—”

 

“Chi!” Sakura giggled at the silence that fell, a bright grin on her face as she tried the word again. _She apologised to her mother and father, but there were two people she loved more than them._ “Ta-chi-nii.” She grinned, knowing she’d totally butchered his name, but the look of shock on his face was worth it. _She loved her brother._ Her arms flailed, reaching for her brother from her high chair. _She wanted to cuddle him… while she still could… just in case she couldn’t change his fate no matter how hard she tried._

 

Fugaku smiled softly. “I guess Sakura-chan won’t be the tiebreaker between us then…” he mumbled, lifting her from her high chair, holding her out for Itachi. “I think she wants to see you.”

 

“Imouto…” Itachi stared down at her softly.

 

She curled her baby fingers around his larger ones. “I-ta-chi-nii,” she said, snuggling into his chest, enjoying the feel of his own chakra against hers. Sakura blinked, realising her mistake too late as Itachi sat back, staring down at her curiously. His eyes spun into red, examining her curiously, and Sakura pouted, keeping a tight reign on her own sharingan. _Her chakra system was unusually developed for her age – a consequence of her using it so often when she was left alone. Even children who’d accidentally discovered their chakra didn’t have so well-developed pathways. Strong pathways came from constant chakra use – and the stronger they were, the more chakra one could use at a time without hurting themselves._

 

Worry pulled at her brother’s face, his gaze darting over to their father questioningly, and Sakura stiffened as her father chuckled. “I know,” Fugaku said, closing his eyes. “Her chakra is unusually well developed, but I caught her playing about with it yesterday.”

 

Sakura winced. _She’d thought she’d been subtle with her little chakra drills… but then again, she’d never had two parents with the same training. Oops._

 

“But the Clan already have their genius, Itachi,” their father said, taking her from his son, lifting her up with a smile. “And that’s you… They don’t need another one.”

 

Mikoto smiled.

 

Itachi sighed in relief.

 

“I’m sure she’ll make us and the rest of the Clan proud in her own way… once she’s ready,” he finished, and Sakura blinked in shock as her father set her down on his lap. _Maybe it was another one of the ripples…_ Uchiha Fugaku was nothing like Sasuke or anybody else had described to her all those years ago… _or maybe it was because she was his precious daughter…_ Sakura smiled. _Either way it didn’t matter. She loved her new father… especially since one day he’d be teaching her how to set things on fire._ She couldn’t wait for that day. In fact, she was already looking forwards to it. _She had plenty of people she needed to set on fire._

 

“Tou-san!” she babbled, grinning up at him, watching as he smirked over at her mother.

 

“She still said tou-san first, so I’m going to count that down as a win,” he said smugly.

 

Mikoto glared at him. “No it doesn’t. That’s cheating!”

 

“We’re ninja, and we have the sharingan,” he said with a wink. “Of course we cheat.”


	6. Steps

Her mother sat in front of her a little ways away, clapping as her father stood nearby, camera at the ready as she stumbled to her feet. Legs wobbled, her arms outstretched, windmilling whenever she threatened to overbalance which was fairly often, given her lack of motor control. Sasuke cheered her on from the side, Itachi busy with his genin team and likely due home any minute now. She’d worked out their schedules over the last few months, including her designated four hours of nap time in the middle of the day when everybody was out of the house aside from her, Sasuke, and the nanny hired to take care of them both.

 

It was the perfect time for chakra manipulations, especially seeing as her family were aware of them. She took it as a green light, and no longer bothered to try and do it all that discretely. Discretion wouldn’t get the job done on time, and Sakura was short on that. So crawling up the walls it was.

 

Sakura giggled, stumbling towards her mother, growing that much closer step by step until she was in her mother’s arms and the camera was clicking. The sound of the front door opening and closing had both her and Sasuke perking up, a glance shared between them before they ran for the porch. Well, Sasuke ran, Sakura toddled as quickly as she could, stumbling into the foyer only to faceplant against her aniki’s legs. “Tachi-nii!” She smiled up at him, clinging to his pant legs as he poked Sasuke on the forehead. “Home!”

 

“Yes, Imouto,” he mumbled, and then two fingers tapped her forehead far more gently than Sasuke’s given her age and the sheer shakiness of her newfound footing. “I’m home.”

 

“Aniki!” She held her arms up in the universal _carry me_ sign. “Up!” She bounced up and down on her feet. “Up!”

 

Itachi smiled, lifting her up before she could start jumping wildly about the place. “I see you’ve started walking already.”

 

Fugaku walked around the corner. “We took pictures,” he said, putting Itachi’s sandals away as she snaked her arms around her brother’s neck, nuzzling her cheek against his throat. “How was your day? Successful?” He eyed his son from head to toe.

 

“Yes, Otou-san,” he said, nodding even as Sakura continued her nuzzling. “My team completed a total of four D-Rank missions, as well as setting the record for catching Tora in the fastest time.”

 

Fugaku smiled softly, ruffling Itachi’s silky hair. _Sakura wished she was tall enough to do that._ “That’s my son,” he mumbled. “Now let’s go outside… I think it’s time we continued our training.”

 

“Nii-san…” Sasuke pouted, clutching at his brother’s leg. “Can I train with you and otou-san?” He stared pleadingly up at the both of them, Sakura watching as he unleashed the puppy eyes he seemed to have perfected. “Pretty please?”

 

“You’ve still got your training drills to do, Sasuke,” their father said, reaching down to ruffle his hair. “You can join in training with your brother once you’re a bit older.”

 

Sasuke released the breath he’d been holding in a huff. “How older is older?” he grumbled, staring sullenly at the floor.

 

“When you’re five.”

 

“But that’s ages away.” Sasuke’s shoulders sunk, and Sakura reached down as best she could, trusting her other brother to keep a firm grasp on her as she patted his cheek consolingly.

 

“There, there, nii-san,” she said, internally cooing at his baby cheeks and how much she wanted to pinch them, even as Itachi carefully set her back on the ground.

 

Sakura pushed herself off her backside, stumbling after the three members of her family as they went out into the garden to train – Sasuke pouting as he went off to run laps and generally improve his fitness. _Exactly like she needed to do, no matter the fact she was still wearing nappies._ She toddled off the engawa, eyes fixed on Sasuke as he ran, silently praying her legs would hold out for at least one measly lap. _She refused to be weak, even at the tender age of twelve months._ She’d been there for a year already, and she was irritated at her progress, despite the medic inside of her telling her she was well within the limits of amazing baby growth. She wanted to be able to throw shuriken and kunai. She wanted to feel a bit more defensible in her new body lined with baby fat and noodle limbs. _Time. It’d all take time, and that was a precious rarity, especially if the Uchiha Massacre was scheduled to take place still._ Part of her hoped the natural ripples of her strange universe would sort it out, but she doubted fate would be that kind to her – she was a member of Team Seven, and the universe loved to throw everything their way. _Her way. She was the last one left._ She scowled up at the sky, chasing after Sasuke on shaky legs. At least until she faceplanted the ground and had to be rescued by her tou-san.

 

“I think that’s enough running about for you today, Sakura,” he said, scooping her off the cold dirt, carrying her inside while Itachi threw kunai after kunai at the targets set up. “’koto?” He peered around the dining room, heading into the kitchen when her mother was nowhere to be found in that room.

 

“What’s the matter?” Mikoto appeared from the room behind them, smiling up until she saw the thin layer of dirt coating Sakura’s front from head to toe.

 

“This one needs a bath, I think,” he said, handing her over with yet another hair ruffle, and Sakura giggled.

 

“Have fun, tou-san!” she called, waving enthusiastically as she was carried off to the bath.

 

* * *

 

A bath and some dinner later and Sakura sat back in her room, staring at the ceiling blankly as she went through her regular chakra drills, closing her eyes as she expanded her sensory capabilities as much as she could. She was a self-taught sensor rather than a naturally born one, so it wasn’t quite as easy for her as say Senju Tobirama, but she was starting younger than most, so she was fairly sure she’d become decent enough with it over time. _Time, again. Something she didn’t have much of._ Her uncle’s chakra pinged on her radar, eyes narrowing as he sat downstairs in her father’s home office, speaking with her father.

 

He’d been coming over far more frequently, much to her annoyance. She hated his visits, just like she hated his oily chakra, but it told her something rather important. Something she needed to know. Their relationship with the village was only worsening. How so, Sakura didn’t know, but with her uncle seemingly on her father’s case about it, all she knew was that it couldn’t be good.

 

She bit her lip, disgust making her small hands curl into fists. _No doubt it was something to do with Danzo – a problem she’d have to deal with at her earliest convenience._ She flopped back on her bed, sighing gutsily. _There was so much to do, and yet so little time in which to do it…_

 

She’d have to start laying her plans out as best she could.

 

There were only four more years until the massacre was due to take place, and that wasn’t accounting for any factors which could make it come around early. The ripples in the universe compared to her own made it hard to tell. Would they aid her, or would they spell ruin for her brother? Sakura grumbled nonsense under her breath, slapping her hands to her cheeks.

 

First, she had to check the situation with Danzo. Next was dealing with the Uchiha Clan through one means or another.

 

“Oh.” She blinked at the ceiling, the solution piecing itself together slowly yet surely. “I’m going to have to infiltrate ROOT…”

 

A shark-like grin pulled at her lips. She’d make Danzo dance to her tune this time around. A giggle escaped her as the scenarios played out in her mind.

 

_This was going to be fun._


	7. Playdates

There was just a slight snag in her plans, not including the fact she wasn’t exactly sure of how she was supposed to snag the attention of ROOT. _Something she hadn’t really been prepared for._

 

Sakura pouted as she was carried to the park, dressed up in pink and frills, the Uchiwa displayed proudly on her back. Sure, she loved being held by her new family – especially her new brothers – but she had goals now. None of them involved meeting other toddlers at the nearest local park. _She didn’t have time for that, dammit._ Her training was already cutting into her sleeping time, and that was unhealthy as it was. Fortunately her body sometimes decided to get some sleep whether she wanted it or not, so she never ended up risking her life with her reckless training methods. _It wasn’t her fault that she wanted to improve her chakra capacity as much as possible. There were theories that if a child completed lots of chakra exercises early on, their overall chakra stores and their maximum limit would be increased exponentially – since chakra stores grew largely from three years of age to seven. They never stopped growing, but that was the best time – and the academy missed that window, starting chakra manipulation and control lessons when they were nine… though she supposed growing chakra reserves were slightly harder to control, but geniuses like Kakashi and her brother had managed it._

 

“Sakura-chan, make lots of friends, OK?” Her mother smiled down at her, and Sakura patted her cheek. “There are lots of siblings of Sasuke-chan’s friends, so I have no doubts you’ll find at least one to get along with.”

 

She scowled, but apparently the image just looked adorable on her pudgy face. “Fine,” she grumbled, swearing to silently find the most quiet and tolerable one possible. There was no way in hell she wanted to be dragged around by a loud brash friend ever again. Ino had been enough. _But her Ino was dead now, and she didn’t need any paltry imitations._

 

“Aww, don’t make such a face, sweetie.” Mikoto pinched her cheek and her scowl faded away. “Friends are a good thing to have.”

 

“Hn.”

 

Sakura sighed, glancing around the park, figuring she might as well try and interact with some other toddlers, if only to get her mother off her case about making friends. _She didn’t want any friends. There’d never be any Naruto or Sasuke for her. No Naruto to rescue her when she fell in too deep… if she succumbed to the so-called Uchiha madness._

 

Curiously, she looked around, wondering who her target should be. There were plenty of Inuzuka children milling about, but they were too loud. Yamanaka would just remind her of Ino – of what she could never have again. Nara would be too smart. She couldn’t see any Akimichi. Sakura bit her lip, her blood practically freezing when she spotted her past self. Her past self was there. _But what was she doing in a place full of toddlers and their siblings and parents…?_ Sakura blinked, eyes widening as she spotted another one of her new world’s ripples.

 

She swallowed, her throat suddenly extraordinary dry, her sharingan pressing behind her eyes. It wanted to come out. Wanted to memorise to sight in front of her. The sight she’d never seen before. The sight she wished she’d had in her old universe. _But it wouldn’t bode well to reveal her sharingan just yet. She needed tricks up her sleeve, especially if she wanted to eliminate Danzo and ROOT… and possibly some of her clan should her uncle keep acting up._ But she didn’t want to think of the future. Not in that instance. She didn’t want those thoughts to spoil the beautiful sight in front of her, because clinging to the backs of the legs of Haruno Sakura was a small child. A small pink-haired child with bright blue eyes just like Haruno Kizashi.

 

Her feet moved before she had time to process it, taking her towards the girl who had to be about the same age as her. Big blue eyes darted up to meet hers as she drew closer, and Sakura felt herself smile.

 

“Don’t be shy, Kagami-chan,” Haruno Sakura said, smiling at her younger sister just how she’d used to before everything went to hell. _Not that she’d had a younger sister to smile at._

 

But Kaguya didn’t matter. The blood she could see staining her hands didn’t matter. All that mattered was her. _Kagami._

 

“Kagami-chan,” she whispered, liking the way it rolled from her tongue. “Hi,” she chirped, reaching out for that _tinytiny_ hand of the small pink-haired toddler. “I’m Sakura.”

 

“Like nee-chan!” Kagami mumbled, curling behind her sister’s legs that much more, at least until Haruno Sakura urged her away gently.

 

“You go play with Sakura-chan, Kagami-chan,” Haruno Sakura said, seating herself down in the grass, proving herself to be a responsible older sister. _Just like she would’ve been too_. “I’ll watch from here, ‘kay?”

 

Sakura grabbed Kagami by the hand, tightening her grip ever so slightly. _Not enough to cause harm, but enough to ensure she wouldn’t be separated. She couldn’t be separated from her. Not now, not ever._

 

“Where we goin’?” Kagami looked at her, biting at the nails of her other hand as Sakura led her to the side of the clearing where the playground was amidst the park’s trees.

 

“Flowers,” Sakura said as way of explanation, gesturing to the wildflowers that grew along the edge of the playground. “Pretty flowers.”

 

“Cool!”

 

Sakura smiled, wrapping her arms around her new friend, whispers burning at the back of her brain as her sharingan flickered into view under the fringe of her hair, appearing only for a single instant before it was gone. She nuzzled her cheek into those pink locks. The ones which used to cover all her skull rather than just one fifth of it. _In another life, Kagami would’ve been hers._ She giggled, hugging Kagami ever closer despite her growing confusion. _Kagami would’ve been her little sister. Kagami should’ve been her little sister. The one who she could’ve whispered stories to, and tucked in at night, just how Itachi-nii sometimes did for her._ Sakura bit her lip. _She would’ve made an excellent big sister. She still could._

 

Her smile widened, and she nuzzled her cheek against those pink locks yet again, the word slipping almost inaudibly from her lips

 

_“Mine.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Sporadic Updates


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